June 10, 2026 · General Government Committee · 1,260 words · 7 speakers · 92 segments
Government committee to order. Will the clerk please call the roll? Chair Wray? Here. Vice Chair LeRae? Here. Ranking Member Brent? Present. Representative Byrd? Here. Bryant Bailey? Here. John? Here. Manning? Here. McLean? Here. Miller? Here. Oleslager? Here. Plummer? Here. Sinnenberg? Here. Thames? Here. We have a quorum present and will proceed as a full committee. Please review the minutes from the June 8th committee meeting on your iPad. Are there any objections to the minutes? Hearing none, the minutes are approved. I will now call up substitute Senate Joint Resolution.
Before we begin, we have a point of personal privilege from Representative Britt. Thank you, Chairwoman. Everybody has the opportunity to, at one time or another, to serve as a chair, a vice chair, or a ranking member, but none of us can do what we do without the help of our staff. Today is Fitz's last day here in general government. It's a sad day, but he won't be too far. He will be in the city of Dayton working for the wonderful mayor. So I just wanted to acknowledge his hard work.
How long have you been here, Fitz? I don't remember how long.
He'd been here a couple years, but I'm glad that he's moving on to bigger and better paychecks, bigger titles, bigger responsibility, and still fighting for democracy. Thank you, Fisk, for your service. Good luck.
I will now call up Substitute Senate Joint Resolution 10 for its first hearing. There were a few amendments that my office received for this resolution. The resolution was not starred for possible amendments. However, I will allow the members to offer their amendments if they so choose. Representative Bryant-Bailey, do you have an amendment you'd like to offer?
Yes, thank you, Chair. I move to amend with AM 1362840.
The member may explain their amendment.
Wonderful So this particular amendment the law shall provide for any resident of this state who is a United States citizen and is 17 years of age or older to receive an initial or renewed driver license or state identification card issued by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles or its successor agency or to receive an updated driver's license or state identification card issued by that agency to reflect a change of name or the person's naturalization as a U.S. citizen without payment or any fee. So in layman's, this would expand to include a free driver's license or state ID card for the age of 17 and over.
Thank you, Representative. I recognize Vice Chair LeRae for a motion.
Chair, I move that amendment AM 2840 be laid upon the table.
The question is, shall the motion to lay the amendment on the table be agreed to? Will the clerk please call the roll? Chair Wray? Yes.
Vice Chair LeRae? Yes.
Member Brent no representative Byrd Bryant Bailey no John yes Manning McLean Miller yes Volslegger Plummer yes Sinnenberg no Timms no With nine affirmative votes and four negative votes, the motion is agreed to and the amendment is laid upon the table. Representative Sinnenberg, do you have an amendment?
Yes, Chair Ray. Thank you. I do have an amendment. This is Amendment 136 underscore 2871.
The member may explain their amendment.
Thank you. This is an amendment that would require the General Assembly to provide a method for an indigent elector or an elector who is 65 years or older to obtain photo ID without paying any cost that would burden the elector's voting access, which includes the cost of the underlying documents that are needed to receive the photo ID. So along the easy to vote, hard to cheat mantra, this amendment I believe should be accepted. Thank you.
Thank you representative I recognize Vice Chair Leray for a motion Chair I move that amendment AM 2871 be laid upon the table The question is shall the motion to lay the amendment on the table be agreed to Will the clerk please call the roll? Chair LeRae? Yes.
Vice Chair LeRae? Yes.
Ranking Member Brent? No.
Representative Byrd? Yes.
Bryant Bailey? No.
John? Yes. Manning? No. McLean? Yes. Miller? Yes. Olsager? Yes. Plummer? Yes.
Sinnenberg? No. Timms? No.
With eight affirmative votes and five negative votes, the motion to agree to and the amendment is laid upon the table. Representative Timms, do you have an amendment you'd like to offer?
Yes, thank you, Chair. I move to amend SJR 10 with Amendment 2841.
The member may explain their amendment?
Yes, this amendment would allow anyone with a state-approved ID to be able to register to vote, as long as they can also show proof of residency at any time.
Thank you, Representative Timms. I recognize Vice Chair LeRae for a motion.
Chair, I move that Amendment AM 2841 be laid upon the table.
The question is, shall the motion to lay the amendment on the table be agreed to? Will the clerk please call the roll? Chair LeRae? Yes.
Vice Chair LeRae? Yes.
Ranking Member Brent? No.
Representative Byrd? Yes.
Bryant Bailey? No.
John? Yes. Manning? Yes. McLean? Yes. Miller? Yes. Olsager? Yes. Plummer? Yes.
Sinnenberg? No.
Timms? No.
With nine affirmative votes and four negative votes, the motion is agreed to and the amendment is laid upon the timp. Representative Brent, do you have an amendment?
Yes, I move to amend SGR 10 with amendment 136-2842.
The member may explain their amendment.
And we are in a world that is full of technology and allowing the General Assembly to put in this constitutional amendment to allow barometric and electronic verification is just saying that we are not just thinking about what our lives is going to look like now but down the road We are already currently in a place where we are using electronic and biometric verification, which is way more secure than a piece of plastic, which we are requesting for voting right now. So if we want to be the Ohio of today and of tomorrow, we need to make sure our constitution is ready for whatever the world is technology brings before us.
Thank you, Representative Brent. I recognize Vice Chair LeRae for a motion.
Chair, I move that Amendment AM2842 be laid upon the table.
The question is, shall the motion to lay the amendment on the table be agreed to? Will the clerk please call the roll? Chair LeRae? Yes.
Vice Chair LeRae?
Yes.
Ranking Member Brent?
No.
Representative Byrd?
Yes.
Bryant Bailey?
No.
John?
Yes.
Manning?
Yes.
McLean? Yes.
Miller? Yes.
Olsager? Yes.
Plummer? Yes.
Sinnenberg? No.
Timms? No.
With nine affirmative votes and four negative votes, the motion is agreed to and the amendment is laid upon the table. I would now like to recognize Vice Chair LeRae for a motion.
Thank you, Chair. Chair Wray, I move to favorably report substitute Senate Joint Resolution 10 and recommend its passage.
Will the clerk please call the roll?
Chair Wray?
Yes.
Vice Chair Wray?
Yes.
Ranking Member Brent?
No.
Representative Byrd?
Yes.
Bryant Bailey?
No.
John?
Yes.
Manning?
Yes.
McLean?
Yes.
Miller?
Yes.
Olsager?
Yes.
Plummer?
Yes.
Sinnenberg?
No.
Timms?
No.
With nine affirmative votes and four negative votes, the resolution is favorably reported. The roll will be left open for one hour after the committee ends, but for most of you, if you please stay and sign it quickly, that would be appreciated. This concludes the first hearing on Substitute Senate Joint Release Resolution 10. Seeing no further business before the committee, the House General Government Committee stands adjourned.